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138. Blood shadow tomato

Before Kit even started his first recipe Crackers walked in through the back door with a basket full of colours. “That was fast! How did you find so much so quickly?”

Crackers smiled at Kit’s reaction. “I just be followin Snowball. He be takin me to everythin in the basket. We decided to come back to see if ya needed any of these things now.”

Kit walked over to get a better look inside the basket. His eyes shot up staring at the contents, he smacked his lips in delight when he saw five different coloured eggs nestled on top of some leaves. He couldn’t stop himself from bouncing on the spot.

How many recipes used eggs! Having these would save him purchasing them from the store! The saving of money was not the only thought to bring him joy about the eggs, what if they had stats!

He carefully plucked the egg from the leaves and found a bowl to place them in. He then went back to see what else was in the woven basket. Blue glowing vegetables were the next thing to catch his eyes, he pulled a familiar carrot from the pile.

The carrot was not the only blue thing in there, curiosity made him pick up the rest of the blue vegetables. Three more blue vegetables sat in his hands, a shaky breath left his lips. He felt a rush of excitement course through his body.

He practically raced over to the bench to pulled out the book of plants. He quickly placed the three vegetables on a blank page.

The items disappeared and writing filled the page. Kit eagerly read the contents,

[Sturdy glowing blue onion of ice.]

Only found in the presence of the Spiritual Frost Piabbits. The onions can only grow with the frost from the Piabbit’s spiritual power.

When eaten raw will give 500 ice resistance for 24hours.

Warning: when eaten raw 50% chance to completely freeze the consumer.

Can be used in potions and cooking.

Possibility to combine with other ingredients for better results.

[Sturdy glowing blue potato of ice.]

Only found in the presence of the Spiritual Frost Piabbits. The potatoes can only grow with the frost from the Piabbit’s spiritual power.

When eaten raw will give 500 ice resistance for 24hours.

Warning: when eaten raw 50% chance to completely freeze the consumer.

Can be used in potions and cooking.

Possibility to combine with other ingredients for better results.

[Sturdy glowing blue beetroot of ice.]

Only found in the presence of the Spiritual Frost Piabbits. The beetroot can only grow with the frost from the Piabbit’s spiritual power.

When eaten raw will give 500 ice resistance for 24hours.

Warning: when eaten raw 50% chance to completely freeze the consumer.

Can be used in potions and cooking.

Possibility to combine with other ingredients for better results.

Frozen fish fingers! This was incredible! Kit felt his heart palpitating and braced his chest with his hand. He could feel his heart thumping through his rib cage. He wanted to examine the vegetables closely but they had disappeared when he put them in the book.

He turned and stared at Crackers with twinkling eyes. “Crackers these are fantastic! Can you collect more of the glowing blue vegetables please!” Crackers became affected by his ecstatic reaction and nodded her head frantically.

“I be leaving now then!” He watched as she first unloaded her basket on the bench then left with Snowball and the Piabbits. Kit was in a momentary daze when he realised, he hadn’t even reacted to the presence of the Piabbits.

It looked like it didn’t take him long to forget that they were dangerous creatures. He could only attribute his lack of reaction to being too focused on finding new recipes.

He turned his attention back to the new items left on the bench and walked over. He had a quick look through the plants and flowers, his fingers stopped when they came over an unusual flower. The flower was a dark blue and had tiny purple veins running along the petals.

The flower had three petals and was shaped like a bell, he peered inside the opening at the top to see glowing blue dust nestled at the bottom. He took the plant over to the book of plants and waited for the information to arrive,

[Trembling desolate flower of survival.]

Needs a combination of unknown factors to grow. Usually found ????

When eaten raw ???

Warning: ???

Can be used in potions and cooking.

Possibility to combine with other ingredients for better results.

Kit stared at the information in front of him in shock. If this book couldn’t discern the flowers properties, then did that mean this was a very rare flower? He suddenly found himself nervous that he had lost the only flower to the book. What happened if he couldn’t find any more of the plants!

A chill ran down his spine, he would have to be careful in the future. He could lose special ingredients to the book if he wasn’t careful. He would have to make sure he had more than one item before he could use the book.

This thought made him lose all the excitement he should have over finding such an amazing flower. He shut the book and put it away. He decided to wait for Crackers return before he placed any more of the new items on the bench into the book.

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He pushed the new ingredients to the furthest corner in the room then started to collect the ingredients needed to make the Glowgo sorbet. It was time to start experimenting!

The recipe he decided to use for the Glowgo was a simple, all he needed was sugar, lime and the Glowgo fruit. He purchased the lime and used the sugar he already had in stock.

Kit then pulled out one of his juice barrels, he was going to use it as a blender to mix the ingredients. He then got to work on peeling the Glowgo and soon the bottom of the barrel was filled with the green glowing fruit. He then poured in the sugar and a few limes and add some blood root to prolong the stats activation time.

A twist of his wrist slid the lid into place of the juice barrel, then he waited for the humming to finish. When he opened the lid and peered inside a blue hue was swirling through the thick juice. A delighted laugh left his mouth, he had a feeling once the thick liquid was frozen, he would have a new dessert for the menu!

He was happily surprised that his first attempt might pay off. He purchased some basic containers from the restaurants interface and then poured the liquid inside. The glowing green juice with swirling blue looked beautiful to Kit’s eyes. He stacked the containers neatly in the freezer, with a happy bounce in his step.

While he waited for the sorbet to become frozen, he moved on to his next recipe. A few of the Glowgo fruits still sat on the bench, he already had this ingredient out, so he decided to work on the tropical salad next. The first thing he did was light the fire pit, he then filled a clay pot with the glow worms and stuffed them onto the coals.

Kit then pulled out the book of plants, he was sure that he had seen a tomato inside earlier. He flipped through the pages until he came across a small berry that he had found in the glow worm cavern.

The bouncy small red fruit information was just as he thought,

[Blood shadow tomato.]

Found in the damp dark places with a sparse light. The fertilising properties of the surrounding soil will determine the taste of the fruit.

When eaten raw will give the consumer 500 health.

Warning: Nil known side effects for the fruit.

Can be used in potions and cooking.

Possibility to combine with other ingredients for better results.

Kit looked at the information with raised brows, it looked like the tomato would taste different if grown in assorted environments. This was something that he could get Lindor to experiment with at the farm. He wondered if using different soil would also produce different stats for the tomato.

He opened his pouch and removed some tomatoes, he placed them next to the Glowgo, then went to the storage facility so he could purchase more items to use in the salad. Kit decided on avocado’s, lettuce and onions.

As he was about to purchase the onions, he recalled that he already had onions now. Happiness filled him, the more ingredients he collected the less money he had to spend on buying produce and the more profit he could make! He happily placed the purchased avocado and lettuce in a basket then thought about what type of dressing to make for the salad.

It was going to be a tropical salad so it would need to reflect a summery taste. The Glowgo automatically came to the front of his mind. He could just make a mango salad dressing! He quickly purchased some olive oil and apple cider vinegar, luckily they were unlocked in the purchasing menu or he would have had to think of an alternative.

He stared at the glass jar of newly acquired olive oil and decided to post a reward on the Spartan Fire notice board for anyone that could find olives. Using his own olive oil would be better than purchasing it.

He thought about the monkey brain oil that he would usually use and became even more determined to make a stats olive oil. He pulled his wandering thoughts back to the task at hand and collected some salt and honey from the storage cupboard. Then took his basket full of ingredients back to the kitchen.

Before he started to experiment with the salad, he took the glow worms out of the fire pit. When he lifted the lid of the clay pot a surprise greeted his eyes. The glow worms outer shell was sparkling with tiny glowing green specks. He hadn’t expected them to look like this after being cooked.

They would look amazing scattered on top of his salad! The visual delight made him excited to see the end result of his creation. He quickly got to work making the dressing, this would be the hardest part of the salad.

Once the Glowgo were peeled he pursed his lips, he really needed to get a blender. The thought of using the juice barrel for such a small amount of dressing seemed stupid. Plus, it might take him a few tries to get the dressing flavour perfect.

With a pout he pulled out his mortar and pestle then started to mash the Glowgo. Once he had enough of the pureed fruit in a bowl, he started to combine the other ingredients. He used the honey Twix had found when they visited the area with the sugar canes, then added the vinegar apple cider, olive oil and a pinch of salt.

As he was stirring the mixture a frown pulled at his brows. Not a single speck of a blue hue could be seen. Kit felt frustration fill his heart and stopped his movements. He might have to scrap this dressing and try something else.

He dipped a finger into the mixture to taste the flavour. His frown deepened when the taste of the dressing exploded on his tongue. It tasted absolutely delicious! All thoughts of scrapping the dressing because it didn’t produce a stat disappeared.

Crackers walked back into the kitchen as Kit was dipping his finger back into the dressing to taste it again. Crackers stared at his finger coved in green liquid and raised a single brow, Kit stared back at Crackers empty basket and mirrored her expression. Each of them seemed to be asking each other what are you doing.

Kit was the first to speak “Crackers was there no more ingredients to collect?” He was puzzled why she had returned empty handed. He quickly wiped his wet finger on a cloth, then walked over to his employee. Maybe something had happened to her when she was out. Worry filled him that she might have been hurt.

Crackers started to shake her head, “No there be still lot’s of vegetables. They are outside the door.” Crackers pointed behind her at the open door. Kit stuck his head outside to have a look, large piles of vegetables and plants sat at his back door.

Kit’s jaw dropped open in amazement, how had Crackers gotten all of this here in such a short amount of time? He turned back to the young girl with a dazed expression. “How?” A huge smile appeared on Crackers face at his question.

“When I be collecting the ingredients, I had a tiny grumble to Snowball about diggin up the vegetables. Then before I know what is happenin they all got sucked into the ground in front of me eyes. Then Snowball led me back to the restaurant and the vegetables all be waiting at the door for me to put away.”

Crackers glanced down at a few of the Piabbits at her feet. “I be thinkin that the Piabbits were helpin collect ingredients.” Crackers gaze at the Piabbits had dramatically changed, she no longer stared at them with fear. Now her eyes were filled with warmth for the pastel blue pigs. One of the tiny pigs even affectionately brushed against her leg after she spoke.

Horror momentarily flashed over his face then disappeared. He didn’t know if this was a good or bad thing that the Piabbits were helping Crackers. He then glanced at Snowball and figured the Piabbits were trying to impress him.

Snowball noticed Kit staring at him and let out a happy yip. “Yes, you did good Snowball. Go and have some fun with the Piabbits, I’ll call you if I need you.” The Piabbits quickly ushered Snowball out the door.

While Kit had been talking to Snowball, Crackers went over to the salad dressing Kit had been working on. “Can I be tastin it?” Kit nodded his head and watched as Crackers went and washed her hands then took out a spoon and dipped it into the green liquid. A twinkle appeared in her eyes as she sucked the spoon clean. “It be delicious boss!”

A smile broke out on Kit’s lips at her praise. “Can I be helpin once I put the stuff outside away?” Kit nodded his head and Crackers went outside with hurried steps. He guessed she was excited about the prospect of helping him in the kitchen today.

Kit forgot about Crackers as he went into his own world preparing the rest of the salad. Soon he had the ingredients chopped and diced in a large bowl, he sprinkled the glow worms on top. Now all that was left was to add the salad dressing.

As he drizzled the green liquid over the salad he sucked in a breath. When the last drop landed on the salad, a beautiful display of colours filled his eyes. The only problem was not an ounce of a blue hue was visible in the bowl.